Rare Exports
Review
by Anthony Morris
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Rare Exports
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"What if Santa Claus was real" isn't exactly groundbreaking storytelling...
But
"What if Santa Claus was real, and he was a giant monster who killed
naughty children, and a bunch of miners just went and released him from
his icy prison" - well, that's a different matter entirely!
The
important thing to remember with this Finnish film (yes, there are some
subtitles) is that, despite the cheezy horror movie premise, this is
actually a film for kids (well, older kids perhaps).
After all,
what kids don't love the occasional slightly nasty murder and large
portions of old man nudity (which is more disturbing than a lot of the
more horrific moments).
But it's firmly in the tradition of 80s kids classics like Gremlins where things could get a little edgy once events went bad for our heroes. That's why Rare Exports
has a slightly slower, almost fairy-tale pace to it as it lingers over
every plot development rather than bolting forward to the Christmas
related bloodshed (of which there really isn't all that much). While
there are plenty of quality laughs here - having a workplace boss hand
out new safety regulations that basically mean "don't be naughty" is a
kak - this is just as much about telling a fairy tale (complete with
creepy illustrations of a horned Santa smacking kids to death) about
the night Santa came back as it is wringing laughs out of the premise
of an "evil Santa". So while Rare Exports
is a great Christmas film and deserves a place in the classics of the
season, it is a little slower and more subdued than you might be
expecting. It's a holiday film after all. 4 out
of 5
Rare Exports
Australian release: 2nd December,
2010
Official
Site: Rare Exports
Cast: Jomni Tommila, Per Christian Ellefsen, Jonathan Hutchings
Director: Jalmari Helander
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